The police were yesterday instructed to return the mobile phone and iPad of former TV presenter Norman Vella after they failed to substantiate allegations that he took a picture of two government officials in a restricted part of the airport.

Magistrate Marseann Farrugia ruled that “there was no reasonable suspicion that Norman Vella had committed a crime”.

Mr Vella, an immigration officer, had filed an application in court requesting the return of the phone and tablet, which he claimed were taken abusively and illegally.

Interrogated for three hours

He had been arrested on Sunday evening and interrogated for three hours after the police received a report about the photo. It purportedly showed the head of the Government’s media office, Kurt Farrugia, and Ramona Attard, the communications coordinator at the Ministry of Home Affairs, as they were leaving for London.

It was also alleged that the picture was then sent to columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who categorically denied that any photo had ever been sent to her by Mr Vella or anyone else.

Testifying in the hearing yesterday, Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit said his suspicion was that Mr Vella had communicated information about two passengers when he was prohibited from doing so. He said this could have taken the form of a photo, a text message or a phone call. He presented a still image taken from airport CCTV which he said showed Mr Vella looking at his phone.

Magistrate Farrugia said the person in the photo was not identifiable and there was nothing to say that immigration officers were banned from using their phones during working hours.

She said that the zone in which Mr Vella works was very busy, with many people moving through the area, and while it may be a restricted area it was public.

The percentage of people using mobile phones in Malta and Europe was high and it could not be reasonably excluded that one of these many mobile phone users had passed on information about Mr Farrugia and Ms Attard going to London, the magistrate said.

She also noted that within the 48 hours that the police could conduct the investigation, the only evidence they had come up with was Mr Vella’s police statement, the confiscated items and an immigration officer who had been spoken to and was no longer a suspect.

During the proceedings, his lawyers, Therese Comodini Cachia and Karol Aquilina, had argued that following the police investigation no criminal proceedings were initiated against Mr Vella so the items should be returned.

On the other hand, Mr Zammit argued that a court-appointed expert should examine the two devices to see if any evidence related to the case could be extracted.

Firing back, Dr Comodini Cachia said she feared this was a fishing expedition especially since her client had filed a case against the Prime Minister and all his confidential information was contained on his devices.

Dr Aquilina accused the police of carrying out “reverse engineering” by first arresting a person and then building a picture and creating the crime afterwards.

In a press conference held on the steps of the Prime Minister’s office at Castille later, Mr Vella and his lawyers said justice had been done. He left a copy of the judgment at the door of Castille saying it was Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who could find out who was responsible for this abuse of power.

Dr Comodini Cachia said it was symbolic that Mr Vella had placed the judgment at the door of the Prime Minister’s office because while justice had been done in court it also needed to be done on another level.

The Prime Minister had to shoulder responsibility for what happened and investigate. When a court passed judgment as it had done, it indicated to the police how to use their power, Dr Comodini Cachia said.